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33 – Write from the Deep: A Man’s Perspective
When men are in places of deep struggle, the women who love them want to help. But knowing how to do that isn’t easy. Award-winning author James L. Rubart joins us to share practical ways we can uplift and care for the men we know and love.
Show Notes
Top Quotes
About writing from the deep…
“If I write out of the shallow places, out of stress, worry, a deadline, then it’s not authentic, it’s not genuine, it’s not coming from that deep, deep place.”
About silence…
“God is the source. He is the living water…Can we sit with God in silence and just enjoy His presence in a way we couldn’t if we were talking?”
Our work as Christians…
“I was reading Oswald Chambers this morning and basically he was saying, ‘Here is the work of a Christian: be in Christ’s presence. Be intimate with Christ.’”
How to be aligned with Christ…
“It’s different for everybody. I would encourage listeners to find out how they do it. How do you go to the deep? Here’s one crazy example of me going deep, when I’m on my dirt bike, and I’m out pounding on the mountains, oh my gosh, there’s such depth in that, there’s such play in that, because now I’m out there playing with my Abba, my Father, in a way that expresses who I am…Or I close my eyes, put on my headphones, and listen to worship songs…another day it might be something else.”
On catastrophic trials…
“You have a choice at that point. Do you dive deeper into God? Do you say, ‘You have something for me in this. Or not?’ And I chose to say, ‘God, You’re doing something, You’re in this.’ And I hit a point where it was an unbelievable freedom, and that was that I don’t have to write novels anymore. I could stop right now. I could be done. Because for the first time in my life, my validation didn’t come from being this author, it came from being the son of Abba, and that has revolutionized my life.”
“I got to a point where I realized God loves me. Not in the head, but the heart. I have a Daddy who wants to do nothing more than just go play together. His love is so immense, so overwhelming, everything else dims in comparison…But it’s not a one time process. The world can creep back in.”
On addictions and idols…
“It’s anything you try to use to feed your soul other than Jesus…It’s a trap. It’s a chain.”
The challenge to men…
“Men want to go deep. They just don’t know how to do it. They’re scared to death to be vulnerable. Any guys listening out there, my prayer for you would be: risk it. Start going deep with men. You would be shocked at the response. Keep pressing into it.”
What women can do to help men in their lives…
“They don’t want you to fix it…Pray…And maybe just casually ask, ‘Hey, how’s that going?’ Or ask what the plan is, and how you can support them in the plan. Give a guy something to create. Something to do.”
Last word of advice…
“I want to talk about Romans 7…because here’s Paul and he’s dealing with these struggles and sins and stuff going on in his life, and he says this twice in the chapter: It is not me, it’s sin in me. Vast, vast difference. Ultimately he says who will free me from this struggle? Thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ…If we could grasp that we have a heavenly Father who loves us so utterly, so completely…we are complete in Christ Jesus…The greater we align ourselves with our true self, which is Christ in us, oh my gosh, that stuff falls away…because we are living out of our true self…it’s not striving to do that, it’s immersing ourselves in Christ.”
Find Jim online at jameslrubart.com
Watch our newsletter for details on our newest book giveaway! A copy of Jim’s latest book The Long Journey to Jake Palmer!
What if there was a place where everything wrong in your life could be fixed?
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How do you play with your Abba Father in a way that expresses who you are?
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Is a man in your life struggling? Practical ways you can help.
